Will Republicans vote for a Democrat when the alternative is Trump?

As a non-American, I'm trying to understand what Republican voters will do when Trump becomes the Republican nominee.

I've been reading a lot about and listening to podcasts about the elections so far. Most analysts kept repeating that even though Trump and his supporters get a lot of press, the rest of the world should understand that their views are not a representation of the US as a whole. It's "just a slice of a slice". Only a certain percentage is Republican, and only a certain percentage of that votes for Trump.

However... as the primaries go on, Trump keeps winning and the other candidates don't seem to be gaining much ground. Most analysts start to agree that time is running out, and if this continues, Trump will actually win.

So what happens to that "slice of a slice" when it's just Trump? Will all the Republicans that don't want Trump as a president suddenly start voting for the Democratic nominee? Or will they stick with their party, and have to vote for Trump, because they'll still view him as the lesser of two evils?

In other news, Republicans are seeing incredibly high voting turnouts this primary season, of which Trump is winning.

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Yes, but he is generally only winning a third at the most. A lot of the high turn out may be driven by people wanting anyone but Trump. The problem for them is that the vote has been split too may ways so Trump is still able to pull off wins.

As a person who is generally in the middle (Libertarian) I usually vote who the best candidate is be it Republican or Democrat, for the Libertarian Party can't seem to become a viable 3rd party choice. However, if it's Trump -vs- Clinton then either I won't vote (which isn't considered very "unAmerican" by some people) or I vote for the Libertarian candidate knowing I'm just throwing my vote away. There just something about Trump that I don't trust and Clinton is your typical corrupt politician.

I think you're being overly optimistic, there may be some Sanders supporters who are for him because he is different and just want to watch the system burn that will vote for Trump, but the majority of Sanders supporters will go to Clinton, with a few staying home.

As a person who is generally in the middle (Libertarian) I usually vote who the best candidate is be it Republican or Democrat, for the Libertarian Party can't seem to become a viable 3rd party choice. However, if it's Trump -vs- Clinton then either I won't vote (which isn't considered very "unAmerican" by some people) or I vote for the Libertarian candidate knowing I'm just throwing my vote away. There just something about Trump that I don't trust and Clinton is your typical corrupt politician.

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Why can't it be a viable choice? Because nobody votes for that candidate. In short, aren't Libertarians choosing to let their own party be a joke if they prefer to wallow in the old cliche of "lesser of two evils"? The same is said for Green party people and others. Vote your conscience and your beliefs, or else isn't that a form of corruption as well?

But we're all individuals, or else we're not while pretending and deluding ourselves into believing we are.

As a non-American, I'm trying to understand what Republican voters will do when Trump becomes the Republican nominee.

I've been reading a lot about and listening to podcasts about the elections so far. Most analysts kept repeating that even though Trump and his supporters get a lot of press, the rest of the world should understand that their views are not a representation of the US as a whole. It's "just a slice of a slice". Only a certain percentage is Republican, and only a certain percentage of that votes for Trump.

However... as the primaries go on, Trump keeps winning and the other candidates don't seem to be gaining much ground. Most analysts start to agree that time is running out, and if this continues, Trump will actually win.

So what happens to that "slice of a slice" when it's just Trump? Will all the Republicans that don't want Trump as a president suddenly start voting for the Democratic nominee? Or will they stick with their party, and have to vote for Trump, because they'll still view him as the lesser of two evils?

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Ha, how many democrats will vote Trump because they see the DNC stealing from BS and giving it to Hillary?

Don't take our media at face value. They are puppets, bought and paid for. Look at the trust factor for our media. I don't know where you live, but I can only guess that media all over the world (except maybe BBC) are just puppets for whoever pays them.

Trump has struck a nerve. The same nerve that cost the Speaker his job and Canter (#2 most powerful?) his job. That nerve runs very deep and Trump is pulling people from the Dems, which might explain their very sad turnout.

Bernie struck another nerve with a different slice of the pie. His is much more left.

The upside of Trump is that he is Left on some issues, he speaks his mind. He'll bring in people from the Left and most of the Right that don't want him will vote for him because he'll fix the economy and other important Right issues.

It won't be like Romney because Romney didn't pull in anyone new.

Don't forget the polls have been really far off because the use old tech for the polls and most people have gone mobile.

The republican establishment is crumbling, and thats a good thing. All the establishment candidates are copies of each other, like Rubio and Cruz? What's the difference? That's why Trump is winning - he's different and he's a leader.

I think Trump could be a really interesting candidate since he can say almost anything , maybe even attack Clinton from the left on some stuff. He has already started his pivot by saying things like

'[M]illions and millions of women—cervical cancer, breast cancer—are helped by Planned Parenthood. So you can say whatever you want, but they have millions of women going through Planned Parenthood that are helped greatly.'

I think Trump could be a really interesting candidate since he can say almost anything , maybe even attack Clinton from the left on some stuff. He has already started his pivot by saying things like

'[M]illions and millions of women—cervical cancer, breast cancer—are helped by Planned Parenthood. So you can say whatever you want, but they have millions of women going through Planned Parenthood that are helped greatly.'

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Yeah there positions on topics such as abortion, planned parenthood, same sex marriage and religion that GOP candidates have to be on a side with. These things need to be updated.

Trump is the last straw for this Republican Latest voter registration figures show that California’s GOP is collapsing
Trump’s rise will only further alienate true conservatives

GOP needs a modern-day Abraham Lincoln to rescue it
By Ben Boychuk

Here’s a question: When barely a quarter of voters in the most populous state in the union register as Republicans, is it possible to still consider that party electorally viable or anything remotely close to it?

The secretary of state’s office this week reported that the California Republican Party lost about 400,000 registered voters over the past four years, a decline of 8 percent. The Democrats are more or less holding steady, at around 43 percent of registered voters.

Meantime, about 500,000 more voters are unaffiliated with any party today than in 2012. Just shy of a quarter of California’s voters (24 percent) claim “no party preference.”

I’m about to become one of them.

The reason? I’m a conservative in a party that has turned conservatism into a cartoon caricature. Truth is, I’ve been a “Republican in Name Only” for years and only remained registered out of a combination of inertia and sheer laziness. The comically inept state GOP hasn’t managed to mount a successful statewide campaign in a decade. The Republican standard-bearer in 2014 – I’ve forgotten his name and please don’t remind me of it – was a former Bush administration official who voted for Barack Obama in 2008. Good Lord, why bother?

But the biggest reason I’m dumping my party preference is Donald Trump. He isn’t the Republican nominee for president yet, but the damage is done.

Republicans have long needed a national candidate who could challenge its feckless leadership – somebody who could shake up the status quo and kick the Chamber of Commerce in the teeth. The party needed someone who could not only throw off the straitjacket of Reaganism – which served Republicans and the country very well 30 years ago when circumstances were much different – but who also could exorcise the debilitating legacy of George W. Bush.

For our sins, we got Trump.

Trump’s supporters know exactly what he is and they don’t care. He isn’t a conservative. He’s barely a Republican. He was until recently a generous donor to the Democratic Party.

He doesn’t know the difference between a collection basket and a communion plate and has famously said he has no need to repent or ask for forgiveness. Evangelicals vote for him anyway.

He’s making promises about a border wall he cannot possibly keep. Well, his supporters say, at least he’s made illegal immigration a national issue again!

Trump is vicious. He talks like a thug. A sizable chunk of his supporters are honest-to-goodness racists. Crowds love him.

Establishment Republicans are now in a blind panic. Can this madman be stopped? Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio seem to think the path to victory is to bash each other’s brains in until the weaker Cuban American keels over. Rubio said this week he won’t go out of his way to attack Trump.

There’s an old saying in the jiujitsu world: If you are reacting, you are defending, and if you are defending; you are losing. That not only sums up the Rubio campaign, that’s been the Republican Party strategy for 25 years.

Opposing Trump has become an exercise in futility. It’s all reacting and defending. No argument is possible. He’s tapped into the very real anger of a sizable minority of voters. Some Democrats even say they might vote for him.

Today’s national Republican Party resembles the Whig Party of 1850 – intellectually, politically and morally bankrupt. On the most pressing policy issues of the day – including health care, entitlements, religious liberty and national defense – the Republicans have broken their promises over and over again.

When no choice is acceptable, the only reasonable choice is to walk away. If Trump is the Republican nominee, then the Grand Old Party deserves the Whig Party’s fate. The only trouble is there’s no Abraham Lincoln waiting in the wings to build a Grand New Party.

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If it is plain to this guy to see, then we know that the Republican Party is dying a painful death, and Lincoln and Roosevelt would be beside themselves.

I think Trump could be a really interesting candidate since he can say almost anything , maybe even attack Clinton from the left on some stuff. He has already started his pivot by saying things like

'[M]illions and millions of women—cervical cancer, breast cancer—are helped by Planned Parenthood. So you can say whatever you want, but they have millions of women going through Planned Parenthood that are helped greatly.'

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Trump is saying what the righties want to hear because he knows they will lap it up without question.

I have a funny feeling that if Trump wins he will be much more moderate or even slightly liberal on some issues than most of his voters think.

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